THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	200
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

Requesting the Federal Emergency Management Agency to further assist Maui wildfire victims by amending its requirements under the Direct Lease program to require that properties qualifying for the program and used by Lahaina residents as temporary housing be within twenty miles of Lahaina, rather than within forty miles.

 

 

     WHEREAS, under the federal Direct Lease program, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been leasing ready-to-occupy residential properties for use as temporary housing for families displaced by the Maui wildfires; and

 

     WHEREAS, one requirement of the program is that each eligible residential property be located within forty miles of Lahaina, Maui; and

 

     WHEREAS, it appears that the forty-mile distance was determined according to a method described in the FEMA Direct Housing Guide, July 2021, which states:

 

"Additionally, the reasonable commuting distance will be established by the JFO-IA-Direct Housing during applicant matching, which is the 'Mean Travel Time to Work,' as determined by the most recent U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts.  This figure will be doubled to produce the number of miles to be used as a search radius for available housing resources from the affected area.  When the terrain of the affected area presents unusual impacts on travel distance (e.g., mountainous terrain), consult with HQ-IA-Direct Housing and RAD to establish a more accurate measure of reasonable commuting distance."

; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the United States Census Bureau QuickFacts for Lahaina census-designated place, "mean travel time to work (minutes), workers age 16 years+, 2018-2022" was 18.8 minutes; and

 

     WHEREAS, current morning and late afternoon travel time from Maui Lani and other locations that are far outside Lahaina, but within the forty-mile distance, can exceed one hour and have been growing longer due to traffic from increased tourism and trucks hauling fire debris, with daily traffic standstills becoming inevitable; and

 

     WHEREAS, instead of merely experiencing doubled commute times, Lahaina wildfire victims participating in the Direct Lease program are facing commute times of triple or quadruple their commute times before the disaster; and

 

     WHEREAS, businesses of Lahaina and the surrounding areas have lost workers due to long commutes from their temporary residences to work; and

 

     WHEREAS, keeping Lahaina residents in Lahaina is critical for community preservation; and

 

     WHEREAS, due to the unique mountains and limited roadways of Maui, which "presents an unusual impact on travel distance,"  the Federal Emergency Management Agency should decrease the distance for eligible residential properties of the Direct Lease program to allow wildfire victims to continue living in Lahaina or close to Lahaina; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2024, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is requested to amend its requirements under the Direct Lease program for Maui wildfire victims to require that properties qualifying for the program be within twenty miles of Lahaina, rather than within forty miles; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator and Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Maui Wildfires; Victims; FEMA; Direct Lease Program; Housing